After a week of rallying outside of the Louisville offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, students took to the University of Louisville campus to call for swift action on climate change.

About 60 students, faculty members and others gathered on campus Friday to voice support for the recently introduced Green New Deal resolution and call on local and national politicians to prioritize protecting the environment.

They carried signs: "We belong to the earth" and "There is no Planet B."

They chanted: "12 years left! 12 years left!" And sung: "Storms surge and fires burn, but you don't hear the call / Cuz fossil fuels keep paying you. Does it weigh on you at all?"

“We’re all scared,” said Manual High School sophomore Mandala Gupta-Verwiebe. “I think the more you learn about it the more fear that comes into it. We know that we have to do something now."

Earlier this month, freshman U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, introduced a congressional resolution calling for the creation of a Green New Deal.

The resolution outlines an ambitious agenda for combating climate change in the face of dire warnings from the United Nations that as global temperatures and carbon emissions continue to rise, so does the cost to economies and the risk to life on Earth.

The U.N. report said "rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society" are required to ward off the worst effects of global warming. It also warned that a critical tipping point could be reached in as little as 12 years without action.

Marilyn Buente, also a sophomore at Manual, wore a T-shirt to school Friday with the words "12 years" across the front. She said one of her teachers who asked her about its meaning was surprised when told the effects of climate change could come sooner than she expected.

“This is not just an issue that’s going to happen in 20, 30, 40 years," she said. "This is happening now."

Both Buente and Gupta-Verwiebe said they and about 20 other classmates are members of the Sunrise Movement, a national youth-led advocacy group that has championed environmental issues in recent years.

Meanwhile, two Manual High School students, 17-year-olds Oli Tierney and Destine Grigsby, walked out of class before the school day was over Friday.

“I’m out here showing you I’m willing to get suspended because (climate change) is a really big deal,” Grigsby said, holding a sign that read “Mitch Look Us in the Eyes.”

She said she joined other students who slept outside McConnell‘s office in Louisville Thursday to demand he listen to their climate change concerns and not be pressured by those in the fossil fuel industry.

The Green New Deal has drawn criticisms from conservatives who have characterized it as a radical, unrealistic proposal.

It calls for the federal government to rapidly reduce use of fossil fuels, encourage sustainable farming practices, boost training for clean energy sector jobs and increase spending on technology to lessen humans' carbon footprint. It also demands social justice and equity for all communities.

The name is a reference to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, a series of programs introduced during the Great Depression meant to stabilize the economy and get citizens back to work.

McConnell has said he intends to bring the plan to the Senate floor soon for a vote.

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DuPont Manual students Marilyn Buente, left, and Mandala Gupta Verwiebe lead songs during a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

Over 50 students from U of L and DuPont Manual High School, and others attended a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

U of L freshman Grace Engelman, right, speaks during a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. “Young people are the ones that will be most affected by climate change, because it’s our futures,” Engelman said. Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

Jenny Vencomo Suarez, left, and Avalon Gupta Verwiebe takes turns speaking during a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. “I organized this in solidarity of the international movements that have been taking place,” Avalon said. Movements such as “Friday for Future,” involving students skipping school in protest of the lack of climate change action being taken, were particularly inspirational. “We wanted this to be the first here in the U.S. - not just focusing on the global issues, but those we face here in Kentucky.” Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

Natasha Mundkur speaks during a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. “I’m a McConnell Scholar and for a long time I felt like I had to be silenced on this issue,” Munkur said. A native of India, Munkur has seen a number of issues related to trash management and climate change and the damage it’s causing in her home country. Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

A group of DuPont Manual High School students arrive at a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

DuPont Manual students Marilyn Buente, left, and Mandala Gupta Verwiebe lead songs during a protest in support of the Green New Deal as well as climate and social justice on the U of L campus Friday. Feb. 22, 2019 Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

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Looking to garner support on both sides of the aisle, students delivered letters to U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth last week, calling on the Democratic representative to endorse the environmental policy.

Yarmuth, in a WHAS Radio interview earlier this week, said he doesn't think the Green New Deal will be voted on or enacted but that it's useful to get people thinking in a different way about addressing long-term challenges.

"It should be considered more of a statement of what some of the big challenges facing the country are and some of the goals that we should establish," he said. "We need to start thinking bigger as a country. Climate change is a real problem."

Later this year, he said, the House budget committee that he chairs will hold hearings on the possible financial impacts of climate change, from increased military expenses to increased flood and crop insurance to disaster relief.

Speakers Friday also called on local officials, including Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and campus leadership, to not just speak, but act, to promote "climate justice."

Jason Abbott, a U of L faculty member, called on the university to divest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy.

"It's my generation and generations older than me that have screwed everything up for you guys," Abbott said to the crowd. "We haven't listened, and it's only because of you turning out in force ... challenging the powers that be, that are making them sit up, that are making them listen."

After leading those gathered in cheers with a megaphone, Gupta-Verwiebe rejoined her fellow students in the crowd.

“Everyone needs to recognize that it’s our futures."

Billy Kobin contributed reporting. Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/mattg.